Erykah Badu Pissed at Flaming Lips Over Video; Writes Open Letter

*Erykah Badu is spittin’ fire after seeing what she says is an unapproved video of “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” directed by George Salisbury. (Scroll down to watch the video.)

The song is a collaborative effort with the singer and rock group The Flaming Lips. It includes some explicit images of her sister, Nayrok naked and covered with strange substances.

As a result, the opinionated Badu penned an open letter to the group’s Wayne Coyne, citing her disapproval of the release of the images and video. She said she felt violated and disgusted.

In the letter, she claims that she was deceived with promises of a “concept of beautiful tasteful imagery” that would “take my shots ( in clear water/ fully covered parts -seemed harmless enough) and Nayrok’s part ( which I was not present for but saw the photos and a sample scene of cornstarch dripping ) and edit them together along with cosmic, green screen images ( which no one saw) then would show me the edit.”

Instead she got disrespect.

“As a human I am disgusted with your what appears to be desperation and poor execution. And disregard for others. As a director I am unimpressed. As a sociologist I understand your type. As your fellow artist I am uninspired. As a woman I feel violated and underestimated.”

(Scroll down to watch the video.)

Read the full, unedited letter below:

@waynecoyne then… perhaps, next time u get an occasion to work with an artist who respects your mind/art, you should send at least a ROUGh version of the video u PLAN to release b4 u manipulate or compromise the artist’s brand by desperately releasing a poor excuse for shock and nudity that sends a convoluted message that passes as art( to some).
Even with Window Seat there was a method and thought process involved. I have not one need for publicity . I just love artistic dialogue . And just because an image is shocking does not make it art.
You obviously have a misconception of who I am artistically. I don’t mind that but…
By the way you are an ass.
Yu did everything wrong from the on set .
First:
You showed me a concept of beautiful tasteful imagery( by way of vid text messages) .
I trusted that. I was mistaken.
Then u release an unedited, unapproved version within the next few days.
That all spells 1 thing ,
Self Serving .
When asked what the concept
meant after u explained it , u replied ,”it doesn’t mean anything , I just want to make a great video that everyone is going to watch. ”
I understood , because as an artist we all desire that. But we don’t all do it at another artist’s expense .
I attempted to resolve this respectfully by having conversations with u after the release but that too proved to be a poor excuse for art.
From jump,
You begged me to sit in a tub of that other shit and I said naw. I refused to sit in any liquid that was not water. But Out of RESPECT for you and the artist you ‘appear’ to be, I Didn’t wanna kill your concept , wanted u to at least get it out of your head . After all, u spent your dough on studio , trip to Dallas etc.. Sooo, I invited Nayrok , my lil sis and artist, who is much more liberal, to be subject of those other disturbing (to me ) scenes . I told u from jump that I believed your concept to be disturbing. But would give your edit a chance.
You then said u would take my shots ( in clear water/ fully covered parts -seemed harmless enough) and Nayrok’s part ( which I was not present for but saw the photos and a sample scene of cornstarch dripping ) and edit them together along with cosmic, green screen images ( which no one saw) then would show me the edit.
Instead, U disrespected me by releasing pics and rough vid on the internet without my approval. (Contract breech )
That is equivalent to putting out a security camera’s images of me changing in the fitting room.
I never would have approved that tasteless, meaningless, shock motivated video .
Our art is a reflection of who we are . I have no connection to those images shot in their raw version. I was interested in seeing an amazing edit that would perhaps change or alter my thoughts . Never happened .
You also did the same thing with the song itself which displays crappy “rough “vocals by me . I let it go , perhaps iiiii was missing something, I thought.
I Should have followed my first mind back in studio when recording the vocals “your way”.
( Red flag.) It was uncomfortable.
For that I am at fault .
Consequently, brother, As a human I am disgusted with your what appears to be desperation and poor execution. And disregard for others . As a director I am unimpressed . As a sociologist I understand your type. As your fellow artist I am uninspired. As a woman I feel violated and underestimated.
Hope it works out for ya ,Wayne.
Really i could give a shit less.
Still love your live show tho.
And , you’re welcomed.
Lesson learned .
By the way I have guested in very few videos. But I have always been given the opportunity to see the edit and contribute to it when my roll is substantial. Not this time .
I guess u feel it better to apologize than ask for permission and be refused . Hey, Love u man, but your ways are not very nice .
O, And on behalf of all the artists u have manipulated or plan to manipulate, find another way .
These things have been said out of necessity.
And if you don’t like it
you can KiSS MY Glittery ASS .
O and Nayrok told me to tell u to kiss her ass too .
Almost forgot.
Peace

Ah ha! The truth has come to light. So most of us who saw this video and stated that it was distasteful, was on the money! I never followed Erykah too much but I always respected the fact that she was one of those ‘out of the box’ type artists that wants people to think about the world around them. When I saw this video, it didn’t make any sense and I found exposure of her sister’s private parts a bit too much. I don’t have a problem with nudity per se but let your art say SOMETHING. Glad that Erykah cleared this up. I bet she wouldn’t trust anybody’s ‘vision’ again except her own!

Erykah, I don’t buy that…one bit. You’ve been in ‘the industry’ too long to just let things go, as you stated– you understand the energy involved. Bottom line, you and your sister did what it is we saw…period. If it was that appalling (sp) and disrespectful (as a woman) why do it even expecting an edit? As a man, some things I just won’t do (a lot of things, these daze). The same thing, no doubt, applies to a woman.

Surprised to see Ms Badu would waste her talents like this – whomever’s behind the video or its concept doesn’t really know what ‘avant-garde’ means – can’t even say nice try – Kind of thing that really makes me miss the good ole days – Still love her vocals and writing skills; betcha she could.have done a better video by herself

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